Generally, a person will have an increased heart rate when he or she is nervous, while having a stable heart rate when he or she is calm. The heart rate is a rhythm of heart contraction, and it is a parameter indicating the condition of a person. Data indicating the conditions of a person include respiration, brain wave, etc. in addition to the heart rate. These data are called “bio data” and utilized as parameters quantitatively indicating the conditions of a person in the fields of medicine and service. Also, environmental information quantitatively indicates ambient conditions such as temperature change, wind strength, etc. around a person. Similarly to the bio-information, the environmental information is utilized to know the conditions surrounding the person.
A typical example of the apparatuses utilizing bio-information and environmental information is proposed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2002-282227 (Patent Document No. 1). The apparatus is to acquire an electrocardiogram of a person in a bathtub and generate an image on the basis of the acquired electrocardiogram. This apparatus acquires an electrocardiogram as bio-information and the bathtub temperature as environmental information. An image varying as the information acquisition progresses is presented to the person under measurement of bio-information, and an electrocardiogram is acquired while the person is enjoying the image being displayed.
The apparatus disclosed in the above Patent Document No. 1 is intended to accurately acquire an electrocardiogram but is limited in kind of bio-information to be acquired and purpose of use. Also, this apparatus is to be used by a person under measurement to know his or her own electrocardiogram, but it cannot be used to inform the condition of the person to other people.
As mentioned above, the bio-information and environmental information are characteristic of the affections, bodily condition, surroundings, etc. of the user. Based on bio-information and environmental information, the condition of a person under measurement can be informed to other people. However, since bio-information is provided as a numerical value, experiences and time are required to understand what the numerical value means. Also, vivid display of acquired information on a person is also a pain to the person under measurement. A camcorder may also be installed on part of the person under measurement or in a corner of an examination room to image the person. In this case, the condition of the person can be known at a glance but such an observation of the person will lead to invasion of his privacy.